halogen spotlight

fhenixlynx

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Oct 12, 2009
Messages
48
Location
lagrange,missouri
has anybody heard of Ultimate Illumination Laboratories spotlight with h3 halogen bulb? it really has a tight hotspot and a white beam throws real good for $19.99 light!!!!!!! got at the farmsupply here.
 
I haven't heard of it specifically. H3 and H1 lamps have a really tight/small filament, positioned on axis with the reflector. Great for tight throw beams if the host optics are well designed. You can get 12V-100W bulbs on line for next to nothing. I guarantee you it will be the brightest ~$25 light on the forum.

Heres the H1 lamp in my coleman spotlight
dscn5900x.jpg
 
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130 watts wow you could fry eggs and bacon with that!!!!!!!!! where could you get these 100/130 watt bulbs,auto stores,online?
 
They came stock in the Thor 15,000,000 spotlights. I would think you could easily get them on line.
 
Well, the philips and Osram lamps are supposed to be the brightest. Those are not cheap at around $20 each. But generics from China are around $5-6. Note also that wattage consumed does not always translate directly to Lumen output. In other words, a high quality 55W lamp can easily emit more light than a cheap 100W, especially with smaller SLA cells.

The bulb I have pictured above is the chinese H1 OEM replacement from my coleman spotlight (H1 lamps are identical to H3, only the base-mount differs). Its a legit 100W lamp (draws about 8.3A at 12V). Despite consuming almost 2x the power, its noticeably dimmer (ceiling bounce) than my other halogen spotter that uses a 55W Sylvania H4. Sylvania silver star lamps are not the brightest either, I just grabbed one at my local Kragen for the instant gratification.

The other thing you have to keep in mind too is that you are limited by the wattage capacity of the lead acid cell in your light. With smaller SLA cells, a 100-130 watt lamp *may* sag the voltage to the point of diminishing return, and you would have been better off with a 55W lamp of higher efficiency.

Anyways... good luck with your mods. Oh and do post pics of your light. I'm just now getting into spotlights myself.:popcorn:
 
battery is 12 volt @ 4.5 amp hrs so not too big a battery. ill try to get a pic never done that on here,what is the way to do that best. thanks
 
Sticky here for pic posting...
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=227442

4.5A isn't much. A 100W lamp will draw over 8A, thats almost 2C.

IMHO your best bet would be a 55W Philips or Osram lamp, that would keep your cell load right at ~1C. My 100W H1 lamp is dim and somewhat orange colored, running off a 5AH cell. In my case 8.3A / 5AH = 1.66C.

It could be a number of factors, voltage sag under the 1.66C load, low-grade lamp, age of the host. Its a ~20 year old light, I am guessing the cabling and perhaps the switch contacts have deteriorated over time.
 
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